


Don't Save Me

by JTR01



Category: Shadow of Memories | Shadow of Destiny (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-19
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2020-05-15 01:32:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,518
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19285363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JTR01/pseuds/JTR01
Summary: Eike, now knowing the truth, talks to his wife.





	Don't Save Me

Eike wasn't sure why he was able to remember now, after all this time. He just could. He could remember who he really was, that his name was Wolfgang Wagner, that he was born in 1534 to a poor couple in the same town he was in now in 2001. His father died from a disease when he was six years old, forcing his mother to find work. His father's death is one of the main reasons that pushed Woke into getting an interest in alchemy, after meeting an alchemists and learning of what such people aimed to do, such as cure diseases.

It was difficult, especially with the death of his mother when he was fourteen, but he eventually became an alchemists not long after he met his wife Helena in 1551. The two were married about a year later, having been very much in love. As Eike thought about his wife, he couldn't help but think of how she is now, trapped in the land of the living as a ghost. It pained him to think about it.

For a long time, the two had been afraid that God wasn't going to grace them with a healthy child. They tried many times, with two dying at birth, and many ignorant people saying that it was because of his studies in alchemy, that God was punishing him. But thankfully, Helena eventually gave birth to a beautiful baby girl that they named Margarete. Of course, as Eike now knew, he never got to raise his daughter. Because she was stolen. Replaced with another baby by an evil he would one day unleash.

Even though at times Eike felt that it was odd how Margarete looked, he rationalized it by thinking about how many people he met who didn't resemble either of their parents that much. But despite the deep sense of supsicion, he loved Margarete with all his heart and treated her like his daughter. A few years after Margarete had entered his life, Eike was happy when another child entered their lives, his son Hugo. The years that followed were the happiest of his life.

But like all things, that happiness had to end. Helena got sick. More sick than anything Eike had ever seen. He had been desperate, blinded by the terror of losing her that he became obsessed and rarely spent any time with her or his family. He wasn't with her when she died, like he should have been. Instead, he had been in his lab, asleep due to working so much.

Despite Helena having died, Eike had chosen to continue his research like the stupid old man he was, instead of trying to keep his family together. His stupidity led him, through a very complicated paradox engineered by the vile creature who ruined his life, to unleash Homunculus.

This led him to make his second mistake. His wish to be young again, to start over. And he got his wish alright. Except after he tried to reseal Homunculus, he was cursed by the demonic creature with something many have desired all through human history: immortality. Except, because of Homunculus, he eventually forgot everything. He wasn't certain, but he felt that at some point he forgot stuff to make room for more knowledge, before repeating the cycle. Until now that is. Now, he could remember everything. He could remember all four hundred and sixty-seven years of his impossibly long life.

He could remember seeing the world. Fighting in too many wars all over the world for causes he didn't really believe in. Seen so many friends die, and others be forever changed by what they experienced. Adopted new names and identifies with each passing decade as easily as trying on a new hat. He has discarded his own morals whenever it suited him best to keep himself alive and learned how to kill people hundreds of times. And whenever he did die, he just knew Homunculus brought him back. Just like all the times his son tried to kill him due to the manipulations of Homunculus.

But the one thing that never happened, in all the centuries that passed, was him falling in love again. No, no matter what he never connected with anyone on any level beyond friendship. Now that he could remember, he knew his heart only belonged to one person. And before he tried to end this eternal nightmare, he was going to speak to her again.

"Hello?" he asked as he entered his former home, now supernatural replaced to look like a home for a fortune teller. And there in front of him was his wife.

"Hello. How can I help you?" she asked.

"Helena. I know it's you." Eike said, trying to keep his voice steadied. A thousand happy memories were flowing through his mind as he continued to look at her.

"What?" she asked, in surprise. "How?"

"Because it's me. Wolfgang. Your husband." Eike told her.

"How...how do you know?" Helena asked, her voice showing all of her emotions. "You can't remember me. That monster made sure if that."

"Well, let's just say Homunculus may have created the end of his control over us." While told her as he sat on the chair opposite to her like he always did when he asked for his fortune. "So, do you have anything to tell me about my future? Like if I can actually do this?"

"I don't know." she said. "The future is always changing, but...possibly. I'm sorry, but I can't believe this is actually happening. It could be a trick! Nothing good has ever happened to me since I died."

"Remember when we first met?" Eike told her quickly. "Your father Hugo had told you to go out and fetch some fruit from the market. I had been trying to complete my studies and while rushing to fetch some necessary equipment, I ran straight I to you. I can still remember how much you yelled at me."

"Wolfgang...?" her voice wobbled, officially believing him.

"It's so good to see you Helena." he told her, reaching out to touch her hand. However, she moved her hand out of way slightly.

"No. Wolfgang, I'm not really here. I'm a ghost, a spirit. I don't have a physical form. I don't want you to know me like that" Helena tried to tell him, sounding scared, but Eike ignored her. He continued to reach for her hand and she allowed him. His hand passed through here's easily and sent shivers through his body, but he didn't care. He was with his wife again, after all this time.

"I'm going to stop this Helena. I'm going to end the curse on our family before it even happens." Eike told her reassuringly. "But you should know something. If I succeed, it would mean-"

"That I might never become a ghost and you would remain mortal. It would mean that technically, we never existed in the first place." Helena finished. "I know my love. But I need you to promise me something."

"Anything." Eike told her.

"Don't save me." she told him, and with those three words Eike's plans fell apart.

"What? But Helena, I could save you!"

"Trying to prevent my death is what led to all of this in the first place. My sickness made you search for the elixir of life and my death made you obsessed with it. Try to make sure that creature has no chance of ever getting free. Find a way to destroy him. But don't try to save me."

"Helena, no." Eike tried to protest, but Helena quickly cut him off.

"Problem is, I know you probably can't keep such a promise. Since the day I met you, when you want something you won't rest until it happens. It's why I fell in love with you. For your passion in the things you love. But I need you to try. I need you to let go of that desire and see the bigger picture. Please husband. Don't let this chance slip away."

Eike left the house soon after that. He didn't know if he could do what Helena was asking of him. He wanted to save her. When it comes down to it, all he's ever wanted was to keep her alive. Whether it was selfish or not, he didn't want to be without her again. He wanted the life they deserved to have all those years ago. But he knew what he should do. What the right thing to do was. The right thing was to stop Homunculus from ever posing a risk in the first place. And Eike also wanted vengeance for what he had been put through. He just couldn't decide what he should do. But as he felt the stone in the pocket, he knew what he was going to do was inevitable. He never had a choice.

"I'm sorry Helena." Eike mumbled, praying that if there is a God, he took mercy on him for this act of selfishness. And with that, he began the plan to save his wife.


End file.
